Paper Planes
by miso ramen goddess
Summary: "The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise." Love, life, past, future, break-ups, hook-ups, mistakes and many cliches. College AU. Gintoki/Tsukuyo, Hijikata/Mistuba, Kondo/Otae/Kyuubei and a few others.
1. From Hagi to Edo to Kabukichou

_**Hello, lovely readers!**_

_**Here is just a product of the many painful plot bunnies I have been attacked with.**_

_**I would like to thank all the wonderful people who have read and reviewed (faved and followed) my 100 one-shot series, 'Moments' I have not abandoned it, just stuck on the latest prompt, is all.**_

**_This story is strictly AU, which means most things might differ from traditional Gintama Universe, and it's a College based story, and some characters may or may not act like themselves. All characters are around their early 20's with the exception of a few others._**

**_Enjoy, and leave your thoughts!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama, probably never will, and its characters, I just own this plot. Also the quote is not mine, it is by Alden Nowlan._**

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**_Travelling from Hagi to Edo, by driving takes roughly 13 hours._**

Gintoki Sakata was an odd ball. He had permed silver hair and red colored dead fish eyes and an exceptionally childish personality. He stood at five foot eleven, of slender build, and a rich baritone voice that made women weak in their knees. He also had an undisputed strawberry fetish, formal Ken-do training from childhood and he wanted to become a writer more than anything else.

He in all honestly didn't care about education. People he argued, taught themselves even before school and some poor unfortunate kids around the world still taught themselves how to read and write by themselves, of course you may argue back with him, that what were the chances of a street urchin having the necessities and patience to actually teach themselves to read and write.

But then his eyes would glaze over and a soft nostalgic expression would seep in, if only for a moment, until returning to dead fish eyes oblivion, at which point he would blow you off and be on his merry way. Because that's the way he lived, and nobody else had the right to tell him how to live it.

He keeps his story to himself and leaves the speculation to the world. Nobody needs to know his pain of being abandoned during an earthquake in Hagi, sixteen years ago at the tender age of seven. How a kind student teacher had picked him off the streets and brushed the rubble and the tears away and gave him a new home and family and how it was taken away again.

Nobody deserves to know either.

But he would leave it all behind, like he had all those years ago. Only he was seven then and now at the age of twenty-three, he would finally leave the place that had burdened him with so many ill memories behind.

As he boarded the bus from the Hagi terminal, he never once looked back to see the home he had known for the past twenty-three years of his life. He would not look back nor would he utter any departing words, because it had become a place he couldn't even look at through his rear-view mirror.

_**Travelling in a moving vehicle, can cause changes in some, like insomnia and motion sickness.**_

It was the third time he had gotten up and sprinted to the bathroom.

His stomach was never this weak before. He grimaced after flushing the toilet for the nth time, he was getting sick of hearing all the water regurgitating inside the suction system, the sound itself made him sicker. Gintoki slumped against the tiny counter in the travelling bathroom, turning the knobs of the sink with shaky hands. He was embarrassed at being so motion sick, he had been on buses before, hell he has owned a car before, never had he gotten this sick not even on boats.

He gathered his hands under the running water and splashed it over his face. It was the lack of sleep, he guessed, and maybe the lack of food too. He had a fear of throwing up publicly and causing more embarrassment, which usually led him to refuse food on the bus, which was probably not the best idea considering how loud his stomach sounded at the moment.

He rinsed his mouth a couple of times before exiting the small bathroom and returning to his seat. He was lucky enough to have gotten a window seat, not that it helped his situation, the fast-moving scenery and the long-suffering head aches made him dry heave a little, but masochistically he still stared out the window as if to create an immunity for his upset stomach.

From the ramblings of the bus driver, he found out that they were a bit more than half way to Edo, the thought caused excitement to boil in his stomach. He was glad, extremely glad to have been able to get to Edo.

Receiving a scholarship due to his performance in Ken-do, his below average grades did nothing to mar his chance of getting into Edo University, he had met the dean of admissions, some hag who went by the name Otose on his way to the dojo he had trained in from childhood, and the woman was quite impressed by his performance, that she had left her card and told him if he ever wanted to try for the historical scholarship, to just give her a call in that number.

Gintoki snorted at the woman and told her his thoughts on the education system, the woman didn't seem fazed, she only handed her card to him and left without another word.

As his life, twisted out of control, and in some horrible downward spiral when all he could remember was waking up with massive hangovers, he decided he tortured himself enough and gave the hag a call.

The woman on the line however was not her, but some snappy man voiced fujoshi, who probably liked wearing cat ears to hide her disgustingly unattractive features. After many rude remarks from both sides of the party, the phone was given to aforementioned hag, who had given him instructions on his portfolio and which forms to fill out. After much unnecessary paper work and technicalities, Gintoki successfully filed his admissions form, complete with video footage from all his matches (all of which he won, he proudly noted) and his not so great test scores and class attendance. Though he knew the odds were very much against him, he still hoped that he would win.

After a long period of waiting, which included Gintoki drinking himself into comas repeatedly and gambling away much of his possessions (for scrap cash and what not), Otose had called him and gave him the news. She wasn't very nice about it, keeping him at the edge of his seat and almost bringing him to tears (on the phone, and no soul shall ever know), she teasingly told him that even though academically he had no chance, his talent in kenjustu had apparently stunned the entire council, that they unanimously agreed to grant the scholarship to him, but he would have to work hard on all his other classes, and take remedial lessons along with them.

Gintoki in his excitement, had done two things, one he threw up because of the nasty hangover and emotional turbulence he was going through, two he slipped on his own vomit and passed out.

After regaining consciousness, he had called Otose up again, only this time it was a gentle voiced young woman who picked up the phone and asked if he would leave a message considering that the dean was out of office. Gintoki questioned about his scholarship details, while the young woman on the other side told him that everything would be ready by the time the fall semester would begin, but he would have to arrive earlier than other students as he is a scholarship candidate and a new student.

Gintoki complied, and after selling/pawning off his possessions, he had 8,000 yen in his pocket and barely any money left in his account, he still set off to board a bus to Edo, feeling the best he has felt since he was eight.

Which brings him to the end of his musings. It had been a crazy few months, he was ready to give up before, Otose had given him the chance, he was ready to let go, but now he is confident. This would be his one last chance for a fresh start, he would have to take it and make a life for himself.

_**And then so begins his journey...**_

The bus started slowing down, as Gintoki shook awake. Groggily, he rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand to remove the sleepiness, and then he gave a lazy smile gazing out the window. Big, tall buildings that almost touched the sky and lights glittered through the horizon, a city that was aglow, even though it was eight in the evening, people still buzzed past one another, minding their business and going there ways, ignoring one another and the streets still busy and thriving almost as if nighttime didn't exist.

His smile turned nostalgic for a few minutes, as he recalled and tried to imagine the scenery of Hagi, but he felt too tired to do so. He reached in his back pocket and pulled out a messy piece of paper with even messier handwriting scrawled across it, only one part seemed legible and it was the word 'Kabuki-chou.'

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_**Alright that's the first chapter guys! I hope you liked it, I will try to update by tomorrow :)**_

_**Anyways, please leave your thoughts and such in the reviews, I will appreciate it very much! Thank you!**_

_**And I will try to update Moments as fast as I can!**_


	2. Barhopping with Strangers

_**HELLO!**_

_**How is everyone? I am sorry I have been dead for so long you guys, I have just been feeling really 'egh' lately with all the works of adult life, ugh I wish I could run away and become a cheesecake.**_

_**Anyways, I know a few of you are still awaiting more chapters from the anthology (or not), and I promise to deliver, when I can, but please continue to support me (your reviews and such are really a driving force behind my crappy writing.)**_

_**Standard disclaimers apply.**_

_**As promised, this chapter is dedicated to all you badasses that are following, favoriting and commenting, also a shout out goes to all my ghost readers, you guys are awesome too, though I would honestly appreciate the feedback and headcanons from everyone who cares!**_

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_**Not all strangers are friendly, some are really axe murderers, hoping to hack you to pieces when you least expect it.**_

Gintoki cursed himself for such unhealthy thoughts, he just got here, he couldn't let the fear of being murdered get to him yet. It had been a long hellish journey in which he ate nothing and only drank a couple of sips of water, he was hungry, tired and on the verge of tears from not knowing where to go.

The latter, being something he will never admit to anyone, not even himself. Edo was the city, too many bright lights and big building that were not helping his pounding headache, and the noise too, was quite unsettling. He exited the bus terminal and looked around for an information booth, something he found without having to look too much for.

Holding his travelling bag very close to his person, he hauled the small suitcase on his shoulder and made a beeline for the empty booth, inside, there was a man in his thirties, sporting a common tanned face and a pair of aviators, even though night had fallen for quite sometime. He was possibly speaking to his wife on the phone, and loosing an argument quite badly.

"Hatsu, I am sorry!" The man sobbed on his phone, "I will make things better, just don't leave with that idiot again, what will the neighbors say?"

Some angry shouts and a few mumbled curses that Gintoki had made out from the other side, the man seemed to have gotten more desperate, "Hatsu, fine, I don't care about the neighbors just don't go!"

While the man sobbed pathetically, Gintoki felt awkward, he was wondering whether he should speak now or give him another moment or so.

"Um..excuse me, sir, I was just wondering when the city buses will be running?" Gintoki asked, in a bored tone.

The man in question, looked up, the phone balanced between his shoulder and ear, "Buses will stop running soon, the next one will be the last," he paused to sniffle a little, "last one for the evening." The were more unceremonious shouts from the other side and what sounded like the unmistakable sound of the dial tone.

"Hello, Hello, HELLO, nooooooooooo Hatsu, come back, I am sorry, I will never pause at speaking to you again, even if I lose my joooob." he wailed at the phone, clutching it with both hands and repeatedly hitting the ear piece against his forehead.

"So when is the last bus arriving?" Gintoki asked, a deadpanned expression making itself home on his face.

"How could you be so cruel?" the man shot back at him, "Can't you see I am upset!" he turned back to the phone and dialing his wife's number again.

"Look man, I just got here, I don't know how you go about these things, I just want to go home and eat something." Gintoki offered, what seemed to him like an apology.

The booth man gave up trying to contact his wife and turned back to him, "the last bus arrives in half an hour, at 8:10." Watching the man with the sullen expression, Gintoki cursed his good nature "So hey, do you know any good drinking places? I just got here and I don't know anybody so yeah.."

The booth man brightened up, "Yeah there are these vending machines that sell sake around the exit area, but that's as much drinking you can get around here, if you want the real thing you'll have to get out of here."

Gintoki nodded at him in thanks and turned to search for these so-called vending machines, they weren't too far from the booth itself, they stood near a wall facing away from the oncoming buses and people hidden away in the shadows, it kind of reminded him of his junior high school classmate Noda-senpai, he was a tall guy with meaty arms and a bulging stomach, he used to sell 'goods' that everyone wanted, his business was pretty prosperous, until he got caught by the disciplinary committee, poor guy.

Gintoki approached the machine and inserted a few yen, soon enough two cans of saké fell down and he pulled it out through the slot. He secured his shoulder bag strap, and carried both cans back to the information booth, the bus wasn't supposed to be arriving for another forty minutes, so he had time to relax and take a drink. As he got nearer to the sitting area, he watched the man from the information booth come out of the small cubicle and pull out a cigarette from his trouser pockets. He had a rather sullen face on earlier, if he were to guess, Gintoki thought it had something to do with the man's argument with his wife only a couple of minutes ago, whatever it was about, possibly bummed the man out thoroughly. Gintoki placed the two cans next to each other and finally set the heavy shoulder bag down and took off the stifling white jacket and piled it on top of his bag.

He opened one can and took a big swig to wet his parched throat, though it didn't do anything for his empty stomach, he felt refreshed. He took out the small piece of paper from his pocket out once again and examined it, 'Kabukichou,' it read.

'Now how do you get to that?' he wondered, earlier in the week, the hag's office lady called and impatiently gave him the address to his residence, he hastily wrote it down on the nearest piece of paper he could find, because of the grogginess from sleep, he scrawled it in a most illegible fashion, that he still couldn't make out the rest of it, besides the words Kabukichou. Though in all honesty, he blamed the man voiced woman in the line, if her voice was a bit more soothing, he probably wouldn't be in this mess now.

Okay, so he was making excuses, but what else was new?

Sighing, he picked up his half can of saké and shoulder bag and walked back to the information kiosk. The booth man was smoking his cigarette while leaning against the kiosk in what he probably deemed a cool way, but to Gintoki he looked like an idiot who was trying to hard, pushing all angry and irritable thoughts from his mind, he approached the man with his question and a can of saké to bribe, if he didn't budge.

The man upon seeing a free can of saké, had physically brightened and introduced himself as Hasegawa Taizo, and gave him a brief history of Kabukichou, it was from what he had been told, a small campus town housing a boy's hostel for University students and showcased main attractions for people of the partying age. It sounded like a typical neighborhood to him, as he specifically remembered the pachinko spots and bars he mentioned.

"So...problems at home?" Gintoki asked, after crumbling up his can and tossing it in a trashcan next to a street lamp. He wasn't really interested but he had to kill time and now that his drink was gone, he had nothing else to look froward to.

Hasegawa-san, as Gintoki had taken to calling him, blew out another puff and added an extra long exhale, "you could say that."

"What's been eating you? The wife withholding sex or something?" Gintoki asked, being the scoundrel he was.

Hasegawa-san blushed a bright red and almost dropped his now empty can in the street before composing himself. "Gin-san, don't say that! It's nothing like that! I have just been a little stressed lately, I lost my main job a couple of weeks ago you see," he paused to take another smoke before continuing, "I was working as an embassy official to a foreign diplomat's kid, man was that kid annoying, ordering me around like I was his slave or something and throwing the worst tantrums I have ever seen. It was looking at kid's like him that made me thankful i didn't have any of my own yet, I don't think I can handle it."

Gintoki nodded, "Kids sure as hell can be brats, with all their crying and their needs." He had been unfortunate enough to babysit one kid once, because he was running short on cash and no place would hire a good for nothing high school slacker, least to say he was never taking that babysitting job ever again even if his life depended on it.

Hasegawa nodded, and blew out a puff of smoke, "This kid was no ordinary kid though, this kid had his own little island, a collection of vintage sports car and a huge pet octopus," Hasegawa scrunched up his face recalling the octopus, man did he hate that stupid shit, he was glad to be away from it. "So one day the brats tantrum got worse and I had enough and I punched the little bitch in the face, he was 14 by the way."

Gintoki chuckled and shook his head, "then did you get fired?"

"What do you think?" Hasegawa asked him rhetorically, "I had enough, the pay was good as well as the facilities, but letting my self-respect and dignity get trampled everyday wasn't pleasing. Of course," he sighed, "That's something cool you could say in a movie or an anime, but life doesn't work well with that, I got demoted and then fired, they put a red card on my file and I can't ever work for that or any other embassy ever again."

"Why did you get demoted and then fired? Wasting too much time in my opinion," Gintoki said, while taking a seat on the sidewalk, his back facing Hasegawa.

"IS THAT ALL YOU CAN ASK, HOW ABOUT FEELING A LITTLE SORRY FOR MY SAD STORY?!" Hasegawa wailed, there was no finding sympathy today with all these troubled youths.

"Oh you want my pity then, I feel the utmost pity for you, Hasegawa-san." Gintoki deadpanned, while scraping the soles of his sneakers against the pavement.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT AT ALL, A LITTLE SYMPATHY WOULD BE NICE!"

Gintoki rose up from his seat in the sidewalk and streched, "Sympathy, Pity, both the same thing really, the former being used in a positive way and latter being used negatively, I use it in the same way, negatively, If you don't feel sorry for yourself, then you shouldn't let others feel sorry for you." He said looking him in the eye.

"You are so cool, Gin-san!" Hasegawa gushed, checking his wrist for the time, "come on, I know this bar that serves the best seaweed sake in all of Edo and maybe you can try your hand at a nearby pachinko parlor." he added, winking beneath his shades.

Gintoki was torn, as fun as that sounded, he had just arrived to Edo and he had a responsibility to making it to his new home sober, however, here was a gullible guy willing to pay for his drinks because of a surge of kindness he felt for the newcomer. The choice should be easy.

"But my luggage?" Gintoki asked, eyeing the small suitcase a couple of times.

Hasegawa shook his head, "Not to worry," he brought out a pair of keys from his pocket, "you could leave it in their, until we come back and then you can be on your way."

Gintoki only nodded to the man and moved his small suitcase and shoulder bag to inside the kiosk, careful to put his wallet on his right side pocket. With that being said and done, the two of them walked to a small, bar playing old rock classics and the occasional fast paced pop songs he was secretly fond of.

It must have been a popular spot because it was super packed on a Monday. Gintoki took a good look around, most of the people were possibly his age and a couple a few older, scattered in many directions, they all held various sorts of drinks, the atmosphere was rather cloudy due to the cigarette smoke and poor ventilation, it reminded him of the stories he heard of "special bookstores" in Amsterdam from an old senpai who went by the name Sakamoto. Though the man was two years older than him, he acted no better than a kindergartner and often mispronounced and even forgetting Gintoki's name.

Come to think of it, he hasn't heard from or of Sakamoto for the past five years, nor of his other friends either. He would think of them sometimes, not fondly though, those bastards were a lot of trouble, but he had spent most of his childhood with them and much of his teenage years, so it was really the memories he was fond of. Settling down in a less crowded area, Hasegawa called over the bartender and ordered two beers for them, though Gintoki much preferred sake, he kept quiet and took a swig of the ale set down in front of him.

'Not bad,' he thought to himself. Due to an incident in his teenage years, Gintoki developed an incredibly surprising hatred for beer of any kind, right down to the point where it made him sick. back in Hagi, most people drank sake, sake at home for parties, sake at social gatherings outside, sake for birthdays, death days etc., Very rarely, and he meant very rarely did he see beer being drank or brewed, even though he recalled in many hazy recollections that most of his school friends were fond of it, as it was cheaper than sake and easier to get in general. Now that he was in Edo, he looked around to see cans and bottles alike in many hands.

He took another swig of his drink and turned to see Hasegawa gaping at a small group of women. It was hard to believe that this was the man crying and begging for his wife to not leave him only a few minutes ago, men, are less like dogs and more like cats, Gintoki reasoned, dogs are loyal down to their very bones, for the first master to show it any form of kindness or fondness. Cats were tricky little shits, one day they are here, the next day they have gone to the neighbor's house. Why? Because the fish was fresher.

He looked on amused, the women, obviously feeling uncomfortable shot many glares and incredulous stares back at the man but to no avail. Gintoki chose to spare the upcoming slap-a-thon that would start if he didn't intervene and whacked the back of Hasegawa's head with a rolled up newspaper.

Hasegawa violently shook out of his leering and searched for the cause of the disturbance, eventually looking back with an expression of displeasure. "Gin-san, what the hell was that for?"

Gintoki pretended to look through the newspaper and deadpanned, "Hasegawa-san, the way you were staring at those women with those malicious eyes of your, their clothes would have burned off, I only did what i had to, to avoid an impending beating as most of these people have seen me come in with you."

His cheeks colored to a shade of violent red, "Gin-san" he sputtered, "I wasn't leering at those women! I was just thinking!"

"I was thinking too, what the body under the red dress looks like." He gestured to the group of women, not looking up from the newspaper.

"Gin-san..." he paused and looked thoughtful, "her breasts are quite nice, not too big or small."

Gintoki looked up from his newspaper and inspected himself. The man was right, the girl in the red dress had the body and a pretty cute face too, black hair pulled up into a ponytail and warm brown eye(s), he guessed eyes because she was wearing a medical eye patch on her left eye, she looked like a cosplayer, Gintoki mused.

His eyes traveled to the other women, a flat chested brunette, nice butt though and quite a cute face too. A megane girl with a nice body and...purple hair? 'that's weird' he thought, 'you don't see that everyday.' A sandy blonde with a pretty face, another sandy blonde with a plain face 'but a nice smile' he added as an after thought, when he saw her laugh. Nothing too remarkable but they were loads better looking than all the other train wrecks in the room, and they looked more classy too.

It as astounding how he started off as objectifying those women to ending with their good qualities, which goes to prove every asshole he met is wrong, he was a nice guy just misunderstood, that was all.

_(It was then the readers realized that alternate Gin-san was a narcissistic dipshit.)_

He turned back to Hasegawa and gave him a sympathetic look, "Hasegawa-san, it's alright to leer,"

"Looking." Hasegawa corrected immediately and took a nervous sip of his ale.

Gintoki snorted, "that's not what it looked like, but look for men going through midlife crisis like yourself," Hasegawa gave an indignant 'hey!' but otherwise said nothing, "life is like a deluxe party sized sushi platter, and women are like the wasabi, you don't know when you will need it to make life less bland."

Hasegawa looked at him and took a slow sip of his ale, "Gin-san, of all the wise and brilliant things you have said all evening, this one made absolutely no sense."

"Ah ha! That's because this one was about women and women seldom make sense."

"I thought it was about life, Gin-san?"

"Hasegawa-san," Gintoki started after an annoyed sigh, "all I am trying to say is, you are old, you are getting even older-"

"I am not the one with white hair, you bastard!" Hasegawa yelled over Gintoki's advice.

"And your life is terrible, you went from being a bullied glorified babysitter for some brat to the bus information guy in some less than reputable bus stop in a seedy part of Edo, life won't get any better, and maybe your wife will leave again," Gintoki stopped to take a sip, "but remember you are a man, and men have needs that can only be fulfilled by trying other _sushi's in the platter of life."_

They both went silent for a moment, taking tentative sips of their ale and pondering over those words.

"I think you should have used that first/I think I should have used that first." They stated at the same time. Well than, they both have reached the same conclusion it seemed, guzzling down his drink, Gintoki ordered another one, while Hasegawa ordered a round of saké and picked off the shells of a peanut that he took from a bowl.

Hasegawa sighed to himself, "I guess you are right Gin-san, but Hatsu.." he trailed off. Gintoki took a huge gulp of his ale and turned his head to the side to burp, "as far as I see it, you are both separated, right?" Hasegawa nodded, "Then there's nothing wrong with a little dabbling and such with other willing subjects of the fairer race."

Gintoki's stomach rumbled in a strange way, he looked down in his half empty mug of ale and wondered if guzzling down the remains would be such a great idea, maybe if he drank it slowly, the setbacks and repercussions will be less messy or at least delayed. Gintoki pushed his chair back and stood up, and pulled Hasegawa's chair out also, "get up, we are going lady hunting."

Hasegawa looked up from his woe and stopped his chanting of misfortune to look at Gintoki, this guy was something else, that's for sure, he had met him less than an hour ago and he already insulted him, berated his life choices, told him many things people don't normally go around telling strangers, and now he was helping him find a lady friend, if he didn't know better, he'd be suspicious of the stranger with the silver perm.

He pushed off his chair and walked to a spot that Gintoki was slouching in, it was the perfect spot to watch all the women from though his eyes were still glued to the red dressed girl's group. Gintoki scoffed, "Hasegawa-san, I think those girls a little to young for you, why don't you stick to a more mature palette, one that's in your league." he suggested.

"Why is it that you are insulting me at every comment, Gin-san!" Hasegawa wailed to himself, he stopped himself and took a good look around, there weren't many good catches around besides that one group of girls, though the club was much too packed for him to be able to tell for sure now, and the fact that these women were in groups made it all the more difficult.

Bingo! There was a moderately pretty OL (Office Lady) type woman at the far end of the table, Hasegawa gestured to her and Gintoki nodded in approval, "Remember Hasegawa-san, don't show anything about yourself or your job or else you will scare her away with your pathetic-ness." Gintoki stated calmly, while guzzling down the remains of a second mug.

Hasegawa was about to make a sound of protest to Gintoki's comment when said man had pushed him to the office lady's direction, 'this should prove entertaining.' Gintoki thought while downing a small glass of seaweed sake, that did no settle well with his already empty stomach.

He reached into the peanut bowl and took a handful out, slowly and meticulously, he pulled the shells apart and popped a few in his mouth, he kept his eyes on Hasegawa every now and then, to check his progress (more like the progress of his entertainment), he popped a few more peanuts into his mouth while slowly washing down the smoky nuts with his second cup of seaweed sake.

He heard the stool next to his scrape against the floor, the vibrations from the speakers playing a dimmed version of a hard rock song, the loud conversations going on and stifling heat of bodies were now getting to him. He checked his wristwatch to see it was 7:50 already, his eyes went back to Hasegawa.

The woman that he was trying to "woo" was now looking increasingly irritated, Gintoki noted with a sadistic smirk, but he wouldn't have time to enjoy, he slowly and steadily got up from his stool, working hard to not moving the too many fluids already in his stomach, he reached Hasegawa and told him "It's 7:50, I gotta get going, Hasegawa-san."

The woman in the stool, average looking and hooked nose, looked up in interest at Gintoki, while he would love to let the lady admire, he was running late for his bus arrival and he was at any moment going to spew his guts at any moment. Hasegawa dejectedly left the woman'd side and walked to the bar exit with his head hung, Gintoki took one last look at the woman, while she glanced back appreciatively, he didn't do cougars, he decided.

He exited the bar door, 'safe at last' he thought as the chilly night air calmed him down, until someone, smaller in stature, ran into him and knocked the wind (and almost many other things) out of him. He snapped his eyes down to see a pair of mystifying lavender orbs stare back at him, he was taken back for the moment, reigning in the controls of his bodily fluids and not throw up on strangers with pretty eyes.

The person muttered a 'sorry' and and walked past him. He whipped his head back quick enough to catch an eyeful of loosely tied blonde hair and the handle of a bright teal colored satchel and the closing of the bar door. He turned his head and faced the road once again, feeling worse than before and trying his hardest to not throw up and catch up to Hasegawa, who trudged pretty fast for a man heavy in shame and rejection. He finally caught up with the man and let the chilly air calm him down, as Hasegawa brought out his luggage and travelling bag, the man still looked sullen, but better than when they were exiting the bar.

"Hey, next time, we'll get a pair of good ones," Gintoki pacified the man, plus the woman wasn't that much a catch. Hasegawa only nodded and lit up a cigarette as the bus came approaching, Gintoki offered him a half-hearted wave as he stifled a cold shiver up his spine, he only prayed the bus ride wouldn't be too shaky.

As the bus started pulling away, he saw a man dressed in similar uniform to Hasegawa approach him with a cross expression on his face, 'wonder what that could.' he thought as he leaned back in his seat and enjoyed the ride to what would be his new home of Kabukichou.

* * *

The bus ride had been smooth and his stomach felt better too, he pulled out a familiar piece of paper with his messy penmanship on it. Getting drunk always helped him focus and remember things he normally wouldn't, it was like a super power, only that it wasn't.

He made out the words "Edo Boys Hostel, Dormitory B," he walked to the heavy black iron gates and a man with tawny brown hair and a heavy-set fringe stepped out of the small kiosk to the side, he was gripping a fresh cover of JUMP in one hand and stifling a yawn with the other. Gintoki half wondered, how the guy could read with his hair in the way like that, the man didn't offer much to say, as he was too engrossed in his JUMP, something he was envious of.

"Go up the middle staircase to the second floor, the last apartment in the left side, should be it." The man said, without looking up from JUMP. "Aren't you gonna ask for my papers?" Gintoki half blurted out, it was the drunken-ness that was making him an upstanding citizen, he reasoned to himself.

"Otose-san said there should a be no good silver permed guy coming around today, around the time you showed up at, judging from the lack of silver permed people I have seen all day, I am guessing it's you." he droned, still not looking up.

Gintoki nodded as if it all made sense and trudges up the two flight staircase quickly, which was inherently a bad idea, judging from how his stomach had just returned to normal.

He made it to the second floor, and walked down the narrow but roomy corridor of Dormitory B, eyeing the center most door from a far, he hauled up his suit case and lays it down on the floor next to his feet and rings the doorbell a couple of times, just to be annoying.

The door opens to show an extremely agitated man of his age and probably of his height, a cigarette hanging from his mouth and a vein twitching near his right eye brow, his agitation dies down slowly only to return as intimidation, the man steps back and calls for somebody and introduces himself as Hijikata Toushiro.

Gintoki at that moment chooses to empty his guts all over the obnoxious yellow welcome mat with bananas on it, and wipes his mouth with the back of his shirt sleeve, "Yo, I am Sakata Gintoki." He introduces himself to his new roommates, feeling relieved of the tense knot that had grown in his stomach from the trip.

The man who was called on before, yelped and whimpered about his now destroyed welcome mat, while Hijikata Toushiro's twitching vein starts throbbing once more.

This should be a fun two years.

* * *

_**WOOOOOO IT'S FINALLY DONE!**_


End file.
